Wild Card's Curse
by SharkOfJade
Summary: ...She was still stuck in the operation room, while her husband was waiting out in the hall, worrying himself to death on the inside. Right after giving birth no less, this had to happen. ..The event that would leave her lover heartbroken...


_In the hospital hallway… 7:50 a.m… Waiting…._

That's what Souji had been doing for the longest amount of hours on end he could remember, ever since being kicked out of Yukiko's room because of her going into critical condition. Right after giving birth to their child…. From what he had heard, the strain of giving birth had caused her body to start hemorrhaging at an alarming rate, and he had to leave her to be operated on.

….It had been hours by now, even though it felt like years. Souji felt his hands grasp his pant legs tightly, turning into fists with his knuckles turning white. Why…. why did something like this have to happen, especially now of all times? They were going to be a family dammit! What kind of karma did he create in order to make an event like this occur to someone like him? …..Or, to someone like her?

While all of those thoughts madly flew around in Souji's mind until the door to Yukiko's room finally opened, when a doctor finally walked out of it, with a rather noticeable look of distraught on his face. "…Mr. Amagi, am I correct?"

Souji nodded almost by instinct, and proceeded to stand up out of politeness despite how weary his body had felt at this point. "Yes, is something the matter?"

The doctor didn't say anything at first, opting for simply looking down a slight bit from normal eye contact and taking in a small breath, but looked back up again and spoke. "It appears that the strain of giving birth has caused your wife to go through both serious hemorrhaging and also some minor infections that have happened, which has now left her in a very critical state." Souji just nodded while listening as much as he can despite his drowsiness, resisting the urge to louden the growl in his throat. _'Like I didn't know that already after even being kicked out?'_ He thought to himself while remembering not to actually say it.

"...You might want to see her now." The doctor proceeded to move out of the way to Yukiko's room and even started holding the door open a bit for him, all the while that look of distraught he had before hadn't seemed to have gone away for a single second. Souji was obviously a tad worried about this, especially since the doctor just seemed to have completely changed topics from Yukiko's condition to just letting him into the room, but he didn't dwell on that, and nodded to the doctor while walking closer to the door. He was far too desperate to see his lover again to ask any questions.

_In Yukiko's Operation room… 7:52 a.m…._

The inside of the room was something that made even the strictest side of Souji shudder. Yukiko was still in the bed, near lifeless looking aside from her heavy breathing and the beeping of the machine hooked up to her proving that she was still hanging on. Her normally white hospital gown was now seen with several splatters of blood here and there, which had made even the non-squeamish Souji Seta immediately feel a bit sick to his stomach just from the very first sight of it.

"You're free to talk to her now. I suggest you value the time you still have." The doctor said behind him, still holding the door.

"….Value my-Wait, what do you mean by-"Souji had immediately turned around to ask him what he meant, having grown concerned over what he said by that, by the door was already closed, no doubt indicating that this doctor wasn't planning on telling him anything more. Souji sighed a bit, but decided to not let that bother him at the moment, and turned back to his beloved, slowly walking to the side of her bed using nearly all of his willpower to do so.

"…..Yukiko?" Souji asked in a soft, gentle voice, sitting right beside her and waiting –even hoping- for a response. As it turns out, he had gotten one, as Yukiko started to squint and moan a bit, before slightly looking up at her silver-haired husband with half-closed eyes. "….S-Souji-kun…?" She whispered out in an exhausted voice, sounding almost nothing like the soothing, wonderful voice that Souji had heard from her nearly every day of his life by now.

The silver-haired husband nodded in an instant anyway. "Yeah, it's me Yukiko. I'm right here…" He quickly said in an almost wavering tone, letting out a smile and resisting the urge to grasp her hand as tightly as humanly possible. Yukiko however, just smiled a bit, along with a weary laugh. "Heheh…. that's so sweet of you…. Souji-kun. Guess I remember another reason I fell for you then…" As Yukiko continued to smile and chuckle, Souji couldn't help but do the same, just relishing the moment to see her happy, even if he felt a complete storm of dread and worry eat at him from the inside.

…That moment was short lived though, as Yukiko's smile started to vanish away after a few seconds. "….Souji, I….I need to ask." With that, Souji felt his mind wake right back up and pay all the attention it could to what she had to say. "Y-yes? What is it? You can ask me anything, you know that, right Yuki?" He blurted out in a panic, even coming down to saying her 'nickname' that only him and Teddie ever used. Yukiko couldn't help but let out another giggle at that, no doubt far too weak to go into her usual laughing fits. "Please, relax Souji. I don't want you to stress out and end up in this kind of condition too…" She said softly with a slight laugh, even though it left an icy sting in Souji's heart. "I just need to know… Is our baby okay?"

That one question took Souji utterly off guard. Ever since he had been taken out of Yukiko's room for the operating, not a single doctor had told him about their child, or even what they were doing. Were they just washing it? Or did they operate on it too? Did it live? Or…did it….

Souji nodded a bit to her, throwing the idea out of his head, and gave his wife a simple smile. "…Yes, our baby's just fine Yukiko. You won't have to worry about that, okay?" He told her in the gentlest tone he could currently manage. It felt like a sharp jab to the chest to -in a sense- lie to her, but…the last thing he ever wanted to do right now was worry her, especially about a topic like that.

Yukiko smiled softly after a few seconds of what would've been pure silence, if not for the ever growing slower beeping of the machine wired up to her. "Heh, that's good then… I was so nervous that some kind of effect after birth might've happened…" She tried to let out another laugh, but could only let out a gravely ill sounding cough, like she was almost going to start spewing blood.

"! Yukiko!" Souji quickly held her hand in a desperate attempt to give her at least some comfort, from her coughing nearly giving him a heart attack on the spot. "I-it's alright Yukiko, I'm right here, 'member?" After a few seconds that felt like decades, Yukiko's coughing had started to cease, and was simply catching her breath, all the while her delicate fingers gently grasped over her husband's hand.

Souji let out a large sigh of relief at that, feeling like he just barely dodged a bullet to the head. "…I-it's gonna be okay now, alright Yuki?" He said off the top of his mind to calm her down, while his fingers gently rubbed her petite hand. "You'll get better too, right? A-and then we can go back home with our wonderful child together, and be the family we've always wanted to be…." All the while Souji started speaking; he began to feel his eyes growing a tad moist, with the sound of the beeping from the machine in the room ringing in his ears. "And…And then we can all go vacation together at the places of Japan we've never been before, or even outside of the country altogether! Like the Amer-" During his spoken out train of thought though, it was immediately interrupted by Yukiko's weak laughter.

"Souji-kun, you're starting to sound like me trying to impress you when I was back in high school…" That one simple statement made almost all of Souji's body suddenly freeze up like his heart stopped. It hadn't been years since he thought back to those days, but, when he thought about it…. It **did** sound like something the Yukiko from those days would say in an attempt to secretly express her longing to run away from her home. "I….I see…." Souji whispered out, feeling a bit embarrassed now. "But, I would do those things for you, y'know?" He told her with his wavering voice starting to return, and the grip on her hand tightening. "I mean, you've been through so much with me, a-and, you're one of the strongest women I know… So, you can make it though this, right? ..R-right?" At that moment in time, a small droplet had fallen on the two lovers' intertwined hands.

Yukiko's face was simply….distant now. No look of happiness or hope now, in fact, there was even a small feeling of dread there while she looked up at the white, blank ceiling, the machine's beeping growing ever slower.

Souji could feel himself starting to get desperate now. "…Please Yukiko, you lived through so much with me…! Including our fight with goddess of Death herself! …You…..you can't…" He couldn't bring himself to finish that sentence; his throat starting to close up while his eyes grew damper than ever before, and clinging onto Yukiko's hand as hard as he can without crushing it.

"…Souji-kun…" With all her strength, Yukiko managed to lift up her other arm up to her beloved's face, gently wiping off some of the trickles on his face in the process, causing a look of pure surprise out of him. With having his attention back, she gave him one more gentle smile, even if she herself started to have dampened eyes. "Will you…do me one favor…?"

Souji nodded at her the very millisecond he heard Yukiko finish that question. "O-of course Yukiko… I'd do anything for you after all…" Even with Yukiko's breaths becoming louder and harder, hearing that from her husband couldn't help but let out a simple chuckle. "…Will you just tell me that you love me? ….One more time..?"

Souji was actually silent at first when hearing that, no doubt letting it soak in, but in a short while, he gave off a soft smile, and leaned in a bit closer to Yukiko's face. "Of course. You know that I love you…Yuki…" As Yukiko showed another simple smile at that, along with a small sigh of what sounded like joy, Souji felt a bit better about his own smile, and opted to move in a bit closer. "I mean that I know… I…I love you with all my heart…" Souji almost whispered out, with his attempt to sound happy starting to waver as his throat tightened up even more, no doubt caused by a few fresh droplets falling off his face, falling onto his wife's.

As Yukiko felt them fall and splash onto her cheek, she used what strength she had to lift up a hand to Souji's face, gently wiping it dry with her sleeve. "…I….I love you too…..Souji-kun…" Even though Souji dawned a small look of surprise by that, it faded away quickly, as he decided to kneel even closer to her and kiss her right on the lips, gently, but effectively, especially when Yukiko was kissing back; the two finally feeling relief tingle through their bodies after all the time they spent away from each other.

After some time though, as Souji finally broke the kiss, Yukiko's eyes were calmy shut, but her hand was now still on her chest instead of on Souji's face like it was before, and the gentle sound of her breathing wasn't there this time, instead replaced by the monotonous sound of the machine's beeping resorted to a flatline. All the while, Souji was only inches away from her figure, with the tears now cascading from his eyes, now with soft sobs as most of his body started to tremble.

He may have gone through similar pain with what happened to Nanako ages ago, but he knew that this time was different.

This time, there was no miracle to save her.

…He held her hand again, feeling the heat from it now disappearing quickly, all the while feeling his throat and eyes burning, as his body stopped holding itself up and laid on Yukiko's figure, crying right onto her chest, without feeling a single beat of her heart.

_In the hospital hallway… 8:10 a.m…._

Here he was, back to where he was after, yet again being kicked out of the room by the doctors as they were busy taking away the body. While Souji was no longer crying now (He had cried his tears out earlier anyway), he was still deep in thought comprehending what just happened, even if physically it just looked like he was staring off into space.

"..Umm.., am I correct?" Came a rather old but nervous voice to Souji's right, coming from the doctor from before that allowed Souji into Yukiko's room. And the only reason Souji even remembered was from how shaky his voice was, not even sparing to turn his head to the right to look at him and instead just standing up as his surname was called. "Yeah?" He said out in a quiet, but rather cold and harsh voice, making the atmosphere of the hallway feel even worse, and sending a good chill down the doctor's spine.

"W-well, first off…..I'm sorry about your loss…" The doctor said in a somewhat shaky, but still saddened tone in his voice, rubbing his hands together like a fidget. Souji just stood, letting out a small sigh while barely moving. "But, I do have some good news for you!" The doctor loudly proclaimed in an oddly happy tone, given what just happened.

Souji however, wasn't as delighted by what he said. "…..Good news?" After his fingers let off a twitch, Souji's arm flew right at the wall behind them and punching it hard, leaving the doctor quivering in his boots, and then Souji turned around glaring at him darkly and looking like he was ready to kill. "My wife just **died** right in front of me. What the hell kind of 'good news' is that?"

"B-…! …But! Amagi-" The doctor couldn't even speak out the smallest of words as Souji's glare only grew harsher and deadlier while his knuckles started turning white.

"Mr. Amagi?" A female voice softly said from behind Souji, causing him to instantly turn around and spread his glare….until he saw what she was holding, which caused his eyes to go from sharp daggers into wide orbs of shock.

"O-oh! That's right!" The doctor proclaimed from behind Souji, sneaking over to next to the nurse (who was still shaken up from the previous glare). "Mr. Amagi, meet your new baby daughter." Just from the very hearing of that last bit, Souji suddenly practically felt an explosion of emotions occur within him. "You see," The doctor continued. "at first there were a few signs of difficult breathing, but after a bit of recovery, the baby seems perfectly healthy."

...Souji didn't –or, couldn't- move at first, simply standing and letting it all sink in while breathing rather heavily, but soon, there grew a small, but soft smile on his face. "Heh…that's a big relief then…" He said out with a fairly quiet and still saddened voice.

Both the doctor and the nurse couldn't help but smile back, seeing Souji finally soften up after his slight outburst before, and so the doctor, had softly pushed the nurse on her back, having her indicate to walk closer up, which she did easily, even if it took a slight tad of courage building. "Would you like to hold her then?" The doc said kindly from behind.

"! H-..hold?" Even though Souji felt like slapping himself for acting so nervous for what looked like no reason, he couldn't help but feel surprised by that, no doubt that feeling coming from just still being in shock from all the events that happened. But, he simply nodded, and slowly held his arms out, to where the nurse gently put the bundled up baby in them.

The minute Souji looked down to see what he was cradling, he could hardly believe it; so much so that he was even nervous of losing his grip on the baby. (But thankfully, he didn't.) While she was just sleeping in his arms, she was just downright precious. From her light silver tuff of hair on her head, to her adorable, but very peaceful face as she slept, Souji's daughter just had an odd aura of near complete perfection around her. "…She's such a beautiful girl..." He whispered out in one of the gentlest of tones.

The doctor let out all but a small chuckle. "Well of course, especially when she's _your _girl after all." He said in a rather comforting voice, which made Souji feel embarrassed, but also just plain happy at the same time. However, when a small stirring noise started to be heard, that changed into pure surprise, only for him to look down, and see his daughter opening her eyes, exposing a simple, but gorgeous shade of onyx black.

" ! ….." Souji didn't say anything, other than one gasp of shock, which had turned into a saddening chuckle. "You have your mom's eyes, don't ya?" Souji said to her kindly, while also moving one hand to gently stroke her cheek, causing the infant to let out a smile of sheer innocence.

Souji chuckled a bit, enjoying his time greatly with his new child. But during some of that time, the tears that cascaded from his eyes before started to come trickling down again, leaving tiny damp spots on his child's blanket that encased her. This caused her to look up at Souji in slight confusion, and then lift out one tiny arm out of her soft blanket, and grab onto her father's shirt, clinging onto it with a simple gentleness.

"..Eh?" Souji opened his eyes again, with the tears flowing less often now, just staring in surprise at her action, and then saw her simply smile back at him, with her wondrous eyes even emitting a bizarre feeling of gentleness from them, despite her age. "…Heheh." Souji chuckled a bit, and smiled right back at her, lifting his arms up and hugging her even closer now, letting his warmth comfort her. "Don't worry, Daddy's okay now... And…he'll take care of you...I promise that for sure…" As he felt his daughter nuzzle up to him happily in the hug, Souji told himself mentally that he would always keep his baby girl healthy and happy.

…He wouldn't let his last words to Yukiko be a lie.

**-XXXXxxxxXXXX—**

_Author's note:_

…_.Okay I know what most of you are thinking now,_

"_OMFG HOW COULD YOU KILL OFF YUKIKO WHEN THEY WERE SUCH A SWEET COUPLE TOGETHER AND EVEN AFTER THEY WERE GOING TO BE A FAMILY TOGETH-*shot*"_

_Look, I know how you're feeling too (Trust me this was NOT easy to write… ;_) but…it's an idea I've had that I just wanted to at least slightly flesh out. Mainly because I was just really interested by it and how it affected those two (Especially Souji/Yu) so I decided to least one-shot the idea._

_Oh, and fun fact, this is a slight bit of an AU-ish spin on another fanfic, but I'm not saying which one ;D (It's actually a bit of a spoiler there)_

_(Also, the reason Souji didn't name his daughter yet….I couldn't think of any good names *shot*)_


End file.
